Team
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Johanna Hwang
 
 
 
Johanna was born in Seoul, South Korea, and moved to Germany with her family at the age of five. When her sports teacher discovered her talent for dancing, she was quickly persuaded to take up ballet. As her passion for dance grew, she decided to move to Munich and train as a professional dancer at the Heinz-Bosl-Stiftung, Ballet-Academy Munich. After graduation Johanna got an engagement at the Ballet of the German State Opera Unter den Linden, today's Staatsballett Berlin. She danced for many years with Vladimir Malakhov as director, until she devoted herself to modern and contemporary dance and joined the Aterballetto in Italy. There she danced for several years under the direction of Mauro Bigonzetti and Cristina Bozzolini. International tours followed, and Johanna has performed on many of the world's famous stages.  

Already during her dance career she discovered Pilates, especially the STOTT PILATES® method, which convinced her so much that she trained as a Pilates instructor at Pilates Italia and later at the Pilates Holistic Center Hamburg. Johanna is certified in the STOTT PILATES® method for all equipments at all levels: MATWORK, REFORMER, CADILLAC, STABILITY CHAIR, BARRELS and teaches with great passion. Her many years of experience as a Pilates instructor as well as guest teacher in international dance companies enable her to share her special and valuable knowledge with her clients and to respond specifically to their needs. Johanna participates in regular workshops in order to continue her education. She teaches in German, English and Italian.

 
Savina Casarin
 
 
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Savina is a freelance professional dancer based in Berlin.

She has been trained in Ballet and Contemporary Dance since her early age in Italy and she completed her graduation at Laban in UK. Her dance practice take place from many sources, from dance techniques, to music, choreology, architecture, martial arts, dramaturgy, and videos. She has collaborated with artists from different backgrounds, performing in different settings from museums to music venues and streets.

Savina has started the Pilates practice during her studies in London where she joined the STOTT PILATES® teacher training. She continued the formation in Germany and is now certified for all equipment and levels with the STOTT PILATES® method.

As a professional dancer, she believes in the importance of the movement as a beneficial tool for everyday life. “Many years ago I had a serious injury on my knee and I didn’t have a proper rehabilitation. As professional dancers we need to take care of our bodies, and with Pilates I could help my body deeply and keep going safely with my dance career”.

She is convinced that the Pilates workout combines therapeutic mental and physical awareness for a gentle and effective result.

Her approach to teaching is focused on individual needs, aiming to support people with their daily physical problems, prevention and treatment of injuries, from elderly people to professionals. 


 Sonia Camps

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Sonia Camps was born in Barcelona. Since 2013 she belongs to STOTT PILATES®, a modern Pilates concept. In 2017 she got the STOTT PILATES® full certification.

In Barcelona she worked for 6 years at Dona 10 Pilates and Yoga Studio and in many community colleges. Today she lives in Berlin, where she works for Deborah Degano at Berliner Pilates Studio and for Isabelle Pollet at The Pilates Movement Berlin Studio; now she belongs to Johanna Hwang’s team at The Pilates Place Berlin.

Her first contact to Pilates was as a client in order to treat some injuries.

Sonia started to do Belly Dance in the year 2004 in Berlin. Later, she learnt Belly Dance in Barcelona at Shankara Belly Dance School with Cristina Arribas. Today she belongs to Alma Gawazy Belly Dance Company and offers in Berlin Belly Dance courses at Berliner Pilates Studio by Humbolthain Park. 


 Mehmet Yumak

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Mehmet Yumak was born in Augsburg in 1980. He trained at the Istanbul University State Conservatory (1990-1998) and, until the end od hos studies, at the John-Cranko-Ballettakademie in Stuttgart with Petr Pestov. He first performed with the Junior Company of the National Ballet of Istanbul and the Stuttgart Ballet prior to engagements with the Ballet of the Staatsoper Hannover (2000-2001), the Theater Krefeld Mönchengladbach (2001-2003) and the Ballet of Portugal. In 2007, he became a member of the Staatsballett Berlin and remained with the company until 2019.

During his career, Mehmet danced pieces by Youri Vamos, George Balanchine, Hans van Manen, John Cranko, Kurt Jooss, Heidrun Schwaarz, Jiri Kylian, Heinz Spoerli, Mauro Bigonzetti, Renato Zanella, Olga Roriz, Uwe Scholz, Vasco Vellenkamp, Mehmet Baikan, Angelin Preljocaj, Giorgio Madia, Alexei Ratmansky and Vladimir Malakhov. Renowned choreographers such as Nacho Duato and Marco Goecke cast him to perform in their creations and world premieres.

With his profound knowledge of physical vitality and activity, he first qualified as a Fitness and Personal Trainer in 2017, and as a BASI Pilates Instructor in 2021. Since 2020, Mehmet Yumak is a member of the Health Department at the Staatsballett Berlin, where he is specialzed in training on endurance and holistic physical fitness.


 Danielle Ettl

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Danielle was involved in Power Lifting, Mixed Martial Arts and other intense activities before discovering Pilates after her fourth knee surgery. Her goal was to find a way to continue to build strength and challenge her body in a more sustainable way.  She pursued her STOTT PILATES Certification after moving to Berlin from NYC so that she could share her love of movement and strength training.  Her approach is energetic and challenging in a thoughtful and playful way. Incorporating athleticism to each movement for a powerful full body workout, her classes will both high energy and fun!


 Lux Pellegrini

Lux is an Italian trans femme gender non-conforming movement artist (they/she). In her practice, movement represents a mind-body connection that incorporates elements from Pilates, dance, and somatic practices. After working as a professional dancer for various dance companies, theaters, and television in countries such as Germany, Chile, and Italy, Lux transitioned into becoming a Pilates facilitator. Their goal is to rehabilitate and re-educate their approach to the body from a mindful prospective, which is why somatic practices play an important role in their classes and in their way of delivering exercises. Currently based in Berlin, Lux also facilitates movement workshops that prioritize inclusivity, diversity, and intersectionality. Her classes are always dynamic, resourceful, and focused on specific anatomical language and biomechanical patterns. Key principles within her classes include repetition, progression, and precision.


 Cassidy Willox

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Cassidy Willox was born in Toronto, Ontario and began dancing at the age of 4. 

Pilates became an important part in Cassidy’s life throughout her dance career, specifically when she began dealing with severe injury and pain. When she discovered the healing abilities of Pilates movement, she was hooked. She pursued instructor training at STOTT PILATES® in Toronto, where she has been certified in both Levels 1 & 2 of MATWORK and REFORMER. She now loves sharing the magic of Pilates though her classes and continues to see the value in this movement practice with every passing session. She enjoys using her thorough knowledge of the physical body to address the specific needs of each individual client, guiding them towards a state of balance in their bodies. She looks forward to continuing her education and deepening her love for Pilates overtime.


 Luciana Voltolini

Luciana Voltolini is originally from Brazil. She left her home country at the age of 19 to pursue her career as a professional ballet dancer.
Luciana danced with the Boston Ballet for 7 years, 5 full seasons with the American Ballet Theater in New York, and this year she will retire from the stage of the Staatsballett Berlin, where she has danced for the past 9 years.In recent years, Luciana has focused on her studies to prepare for her career change. She has received her STOTT PILATES certification and has now been teaching Pilates for almost 2 years and has already built up her client base. She is excited to share her experience with movement and a healthy lifestyle. Luciana particularly specializes in Matwork, Reformer, Stability Chair and Barrel.


 Sacha Males

Sacha is a certified STOTT PILATES instructor for Matwork and Reformer and a professional ballet dancer.

I was born in Paris and started ballet when I was 14. After graduating my Ballet School at the Conservatoire de Paris (CNSMDP), I had the great chance to start working immediately at the Staatsballett Berlin, where I have been working since then under multiple directorships and had the opportunity to dance a very large repertoire. The hard work that comes with this job taught me discipline and how to keep on learning about my body in order to keep on dancing and enjoying every second of it.

Discovering Pilates after an injury, this fantastic technique helped me to keep on discovering my body to work in a healthy and productive way.

Sharing now this long learned knowledge is extremely pleasurable and I’m looking forward meeting you on the mat or on the reformer.